Germany: ‘internal crowd-working’ study and the implications for company structures

The Hans Böckler Trade Foundation (German Federation of Trade Unions - DGB) has presented its first study on the phenomenon of ‘internal crowd work’ and its implications for both work organization and human resources management. The study is based on several elements including multiple company case studies from the automotive, telecoms, and IT sectors. In addition to the different variants and principles of ‘crowd work’, the study’s authors highlight the enormous advantages that ‘crowd work’ can bring internally, while pointing out the risks of densification and of stress, as a result of inadequate integration of ‘crowd work’ in traditional work routines.

Internal crowd work – a little known but developing concept. ‘Crowd work’ is generally known in its external form whereby a company uses an IT platform to call upon workers, the status of whom is not always clear, to carry out fragmented and clearly defined tasks on a fixed-price basis and to participate in larger projects. This type of work organization is also increasingly being developed internally. However both the effects on employees, and the consequences on company structures, are not well known.…

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